Steph Loring (she/her) recently joined us as the Director of our Digital Strategy Team (and as my boss, eep!). She’s excited to continue to grow our Strategy Team from the ground up, optimizing our strengths and fostering a culture of collaboration, growth, and education.
Steph truly is a “purple squirrel,” having done incredible work in Marketing, SEO, UX, Growth and Consultation fields, and shares a passion for all of our core values (especially “Be a Student and a Teacher”). We’re so thrilled to have her—we knew this position would require someone special to take it on. I was lucky enough to have the following conversation with her.
How’s your first week going so far?
“Good enough that I made it to week four! It’s been great. Everything’s going well. I’m very comfortable and happy here. I’m not sure if this is too tacky, but I feel like I’m home? Like, I’m where I’ve always belonged.”
What brought you to Clique?
“Initially, I saw a post on Harrison’s LinkedIn, because we used to work at Red Frog together. I saw the job description, and it was every single part of my past experience. Just a great fit. I’m from Chicago and Colorado, so I was like, ‘I’m with my people.’ When talking with Amy (Clique’s People Operations Manager), she said she was looking for a ‘purple squirrel’ and I said, ‘oh I am that!’ I’ve worked with all those areas.
As for the company, the values were super important to me and struck me immediately.”
What are you most excited about being here?
“So many things. I’m excited about our team, specifically. The teaching and mentorship, and learning from each other. There’s such an opportunity for all these smart people to learn from each other, and being a part of that general knowledge share, and watching and helping people grow while I also grow is a cool area I’m pumped about.”
Any fun trips you’re planning to take down the road?
“I have two trips I’d love to take. One would be to Iceland—the hiking, lagoons, and generally being in such a cool ‘different’ area would be great. The other is Norway. My husband and I watch New Scandinavian Cooking, and the views are breathtakingly gorgeous. It sounds like a fun, different trip from normal.
I’m normally a beach vacation girl, but those sound like awesome cool adventure locations that I’m excited to go to sooner rather than later.”
…I want to go to there
What’s the best advice you’ve received? And who is someone you’d want to receive advice from?
“The best advice I’ve received is the Gretzky quote—’you’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ It’s a good reminder to not be afraid to try and to fail.
As for receiving advice, I would love to pick the brain of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. He really knew how to live his life to the absolute fullest and was excited about every experience he’s ever had. Being able to tap into that enthusiasm and excitement would be amazing.”
If you had to have a job other than the one that you have, what would it be?
“If money were no object, I would love to do stand up comedy.”
Oh, have you done any open mics?
“My bucket list item was to do a five minute open mic, but then COVID happened. I’ve done improv in the city, but I’ve never attempted an open mic. Maybe I’ll be able to finally do that at some point hopefully soon.”
Do you have any irrational fears?
“Rubber bands.”
Really?
“To be clear, I have an older brother. So maybe that’s not that irrational. He used to chase me with a rubber band gun or put one to my skin and pull the rubber band back. I mean, we’re super close, but that sticks with me.”
As an older brother, I felt I had to apologize for similar “pranks” I pulled.
By the end of 2022 I want to _______?
“Travel. Maybe even get one of those two trips.”
